In 2017, the new BMW i3 will hit the sales floors with a new 33 kWh battery. This new battery will increase the pure-electric range to 114 miles, increasing the distance by 50 percent and adding 33 miles before it needs a charge. Here are some things you should know about the new car.

Performance

The new model is slightly heavier than the old one because the bigger batteries weigh more, but this doesn’t have a big effect on the performance of the vehicle.  It takes only slightly longer for the  new i3 to get up to 62 miles per hour, but  the difference is so short that the average driver won’t even notice.

Charge Time

The new batteries take about the same amount of time to charge as the old ones, and it will take about 4.5 hours for a Level 2 charger to completely charge the car. This is only about an hour longer than the smaller battery in the older model. It should only take about 40 minutes to get the battery to about 80 percent of capacity.

Range

According to BMW, the new i3 will get rated for 120 to 125 miles on the test cycle. Along with the batteries, the car will come with a range extender in the form of a small 2.4-gallon fuel tank, to increase the driving distance. This is actually the same size tank BMW used in the previous model, but in the first i3 BMW had limited the tank’s capacity so it didn’t have more gas range than electric range. With the additional electric range in the 2017, they can now unlock the full tank so drivers can fill the whole thing and still have a zero emissions vehicle.

Retrofitting

The new battery is the same size as the old one, so in some markets, BMW is offering an upgrade program. It is not available in the US yet, but since the i3 is relatively new in the US, even drivers who bought the car when it was first available still have a fairly new battery, so the program is not necessary here yet.

Updated Range Assistant

The new model will come with an improved range assistant as part of the ConnectedDrive Services. The assistant will follow the planned route and the route you are driving. If what you put into the navigation system is further than the car’s range, then the assistant will suggest that you switch to the ECO PRO or the PRO+ mode. It will also calculate a shorter route for you, and show you all available charging stations along your route.

All these changes and improvements make it more sensible for the average driver to look into getting an electric vehicle like the BMW i3. The increased range means you can take the car to more places and even take it on a trip without limitations. With the help of the range assistant, you can make sure to get to your destination regardless of the road conditions, temperatures, and traffic.